For all of my life I have been drawn to crafting in one form or another. I come from parents who could work creatively with their hands and some of my richest memories involve working with them on a project, or merely watching them working at one thing or another.
As I was working on a purse recently, having been inspired to create with recycled materials, my shoulders ached with the repetitive, hunched over work of needle nosed pliers and tiny jump rings, and I simply had to stop. I marveled at how it was developing and with my aching shoulders, granted myself the simple stretching and time away needed to be able to go back to it. Creating a beautiful hand crafted piece of any kind takes a multitude of little steps, many of them not particularly fun at all, often very repetitive, arduous, tedious steps done with a single purpose and intention. When you are done you have a thing of beauty, sometimes you have a masterpiece. Creating a beautiful life is done the same way.
It is a wonderful thing to witness the fruits of one’s labor, to behold the things of beauty that can manifest from concentrated effort and attention to detail. Life is no different. There are hundreds of mundane, arduous, and tedious tasks to living one’s life, but they can be done with an intention, a common purpose and a vision. Those daily mundane, arduous, tedious tasks are your life after all. Like the Buddhist saying, before enlightenment – chop wood, carry water, after enlightenment – chop wood, carry water. Life’s daily tasks still need doing and there is grace in doing them with intention, with gratitude for your abundance, with love and affection for the nurturing spirit you embody.
Best Holiday Wishes to all of You as you craft the life of your dreams-
